Dark Sentiments Season 11 — Day 17: The New Normal

| October 17, 2020

Every societal upheaval gives birth to period specific terms. This is most commonly brought to the fore when soldiers return from war, and every major conflict births a dictionary all its own. But it doesn’t take a war. for as we will discuss today, the current world wide pestilential unpleasantness is societal upheaval enough for […]

Dark Sentiments Season 11 — Day 16: Tender Bites

| October 16, 2020

Hard times bring some to self-justify the most heinous of acts. A few even pre-position themselves for it as I have chronicled in the matter of a young technician I was once called upon to mentor: “… in the midst of the long hot summer of 1981 the Halifax Police Department went on strike and […]

Dark Sentiments Season 11 — Day 12: Of Tastes Acquired

| October 12, 2020

“An acquired taste is an appreciation for something unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it.” ~ Wikipedia Of this very subject, I once wrote: “I like fruitcake. I also like marinated herring, Danish blue cheese, scotch whisky, anchovies, the smell of a good cigar being smoked – […]

Dark Sentiments Season 11 — Day 8: The Witches of Wakeup

| October 8, 2020

Tonight’s Dark Sentiment is sung from the perspective of a previously unheard of Coven of Witches — The Witches of Wakeup — hidden for centuries but only now self-disclosing as the sheer unmitigated shitness of the 21st century has driven them beyond their bounds of tolerance. Short form: They’ve fucking had it.

Dark Sentiments Season 11 — Day 7: A Box Full of Chosenness

| October 7, 2020

“The matter, then, is not that we are different from one another. It springs from zealotry, and that, dear reader, is born of the idea of chosenness – that you and yours hold exclusivity of right as the beloved and preferred of your deity, or even political doctrine. Chosenness in spiritual terms goes far beyond […]

Dark Sentiments Season 11 — T Minus 9

| September 22, 2020

Tonight’s feature in our countdown to Season 11 was first published here on Day 26 of Season 2. Hunter’s Moon is a terrible tale of primal travail, murder, cannibalism, infanticide, frontier justice, and absolute revenge. Whatever you drink with this, it shouldn’t be anything particularly smooth. Dark Sentiments 2011 – Day 26: Hunter’s Moon First […]

Rustic Snooze

| June 7, 2020

Yet horns of war and strife now blow, And echo through the land. Loud enough, I hear them yet From where I choose to stand. For Peace is in that place, you see, That strife is furthest from, But no vantage have I ever found Whence I can’t hear its drum. ~ The Woodsman’s Song […]

The Bullshitter’s Grimoire

| May 24, 2020

“Growing up, I was always ahead of my contemporaries in my skills with the written and spoken word. To my great fortune, that gift was recognized and cultivated by a succession of exceptional Teachers. While I can’t pin down the date beyond the certainty that I was still in elementary school, I remember a day […]

The Militarization of Mealtime

| May 9, 2020

“The first time I read Lord of the Rings, I’m sure I was personally responsible for skyrocketing values of stocks for companies involved in the production of bacon, mushrooms, and dark, full bodied beers. I absolutely enjoy any literature that confronts me with a description of food consumed by the characters that leaves me wanting […]

Messages Mixed and Missed

| March 27, 2020

“‘And it is also said,’ answered Frodo: ‘Go not to the Elves for counsel for they will answer both no and yes.’ “‘Is it indeed?’ laughed Gildor. ‘Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.’” ~ Lord of the […]